his career is heating up

A White House ‘State Dinner’ is next for 9-year-old New York cook

Samuel Wohabe has helped start a rooftop garden, trained with chefs in Mexico and prepared a threecourse dinner for a party of 56.

Now, the budding Manhattan chef is heading to the White House. And he’s only 9 years old. Sam is one of 54 kids attending a special “State Dinner” with Michelle Obama on Monday. The group of young chefs, all between the ages of 8 and 12, won a nationwide Healthy Lunchtime Challenge hosted by the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative and the food website Epicurious.

Sam, a fourth-grader from the upper East Side, impressed the team with his recipe for Fish Fueled Pepper Rocket with Kale Chips and Quinoa.

“First of all, I love the title,” says Epicurious editor in chief Tanya Steel. “That really caught our eye and it was very inventive.”

The dish’s main component, an orange bell pepper stuffed with halibut and Manchego cheese, was inspired by a trip to the supermarket.

“Sam often wants to go to Fairway and pick out things he hasn’t tried before,” explains mom Sheila Tendy.

On that particular afternoon, the peppers’ bright orange exterior sparked Sam’s curiosity. “It was a thought that came to mind when I started picking out the peppers and halibut,” he says.

But his baby-sitter wanted to prepare it differently, so the pair held a cookoff, just like they do on one of Sam’s favorite Food Network competitions, “Chopped.”

“They made it two different ways,” says Tendy. “I tried them both ways and I really liked his better.”

Thanks to Mom’s support and encouragement — her advice for getting kids in the kitchen is to let them make a mess — Sam has been cooking since he was a toddler.

Sam takes lessons at school, Léman Manhattan in the Financial District, and also learns from family and friends.

The 9-year-old’s love of fresh ingredients pushed him to petition their building for a rooftop garden last summer. High over the upper East Side, Sam and other young tenants have been growing and picking tomatoes, strawberries and even eggplant.

“We have sage, mint, thyme, lavender, stuff like that,” says Sam, who likes to make tea with the herbs.

Luckily for Mom, getting Sam to eat healthy hasn’t been difficult — his other favorite summer treat is zucchini flowers.

But for those who do have a hard time, Steel has a tip.

“Parents have to do PR for vegetables and healthy eating and model themselves in front of the kids,” she says. “They also don’t realize how sophisticated kids’ palates are. They’re watching the Food Network and ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and they’re going to food courts for edamame. If you capitalize on that knowledge and enthusiasm, you’re halfway there.”

As Sam heads to Washington, D.C., for the “State Dinner” (it’s actually a lunch, but like the grown-up affair, the winners will tour the White House and be formally announced), he’s most excited to dine with other kids who love to cook.

“And meeting Michelle Obama,” he adds, “is going to be pretty awesome.”

plee@nydailynews.com